Theft of golf clubs from unattended golf bags at public golf courses or country clubs has unfortunately been a common occurrence through the years. Various devices have been designed to secure golf clubs to one another and/or prevent the removal of clubs from golf bags.
One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,100 and describes a metallic plate which is designed to fit over the open end of a golf bag. The plate has three slots which are closed at one end and open at the other and which are slightly wider than a narrow neck portion of the golf club shafts and substantially longer than its width, so that a group of golf clubs can be laterally inserted therein. A U-shaped arm is pivotally attached to the flat plate to close the "open" end of the slots and which can be locked in place to prevent removal of the clubs. Although when employed, this device may be effective in preventing golf club theft, it has several disadvantages. In particular, the device is relatively heavy and thereby tends to discourage golfers who prefer to tote their own bags as they play from carrying the lock around with them. Another drawback of such a device is that the spacing between partitions of various golf bags is not necessarily consistent from one bag to another. Since the distance between slots in the plate is not adjustable, the locking device will not adapt readily to various size bags. Therefore, specific locks must be matched to an individual bag and in the event a golfer changes bags or owns more than one bag, such as a full size bag for carrying on a golf cart and a "walking bag" for walking the course, a golfer would most likely be required to purchase more than one lock. A further disadvantage of such a device is that it is relatively costly.
Another locking device which may offer advantages in terms of being light weight and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,113. This device discloses a Combination Club Carrier and Lock which comprises a pair of padlocks, each of which have U-shaped shackles that engage the shaft of a golf club. Each of the shackles is slightly wider than a narrow region of the club shaft and is substantially longer than its width, so that several golf clubs can be laterally inserted therein. The padlocks are interconnected to one another by a handle portion having eyes which each engage the shackle portion of one of the padlocks.
A disadvantage of this device is that it is not adaptable for use in conjunction with a golf bag and therefore would require removal of one's clubs from the bag before use. Another disadvantage is that the device cannot readily secure an entire set of clubs, unless more than one such locking device were used. A further drawback is that the device would be cumbersome to use, especially if one were using more than one lock in an attempt to secure a large number of clubs.
It is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved locking device for golf clubs.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a lightweight golf club locking device.
A further object of this invention is to provide a golf club locking device of relatively simple and inexpensive construction that is relatively simple to use.
Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club locking device adapted to secure an entire set of clubs while they are disposed within a golf bag.
A further object of this invention is to provide a golf club locking device adapted to secure a golf bag as well as the clubs disposed therein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal golf club locking device which is adjustable to fit a wide range of golf bags.
According to this invention, a locking device releasably secures a plurality of golf clubs therein, each golf club having a head disposed at an end of a shaft, the shaft having a narrow neck near the head and a wider region further from the head. The device comprises a plurality of elongated shackles each having generally parallel limbs extending from a bight portion and being separated from one another by a distance greater than a single club's narrow region and less than a single club's wider region. The limbs of each shackle are lockingly received by a receiver to secure club shafts therein and a retainer slidably retains said receivers.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from a reading of the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the following drawing.